It is our understanding that Phoenix Air Group was recently contracted by Novartis to transport a group of non-human primates from Barbados to Italy. The animals were destined for laboratory experimentation. I urge you to dissociate Phoenix Air Group from the cruelty and suffering of the international trade in primates by refusing to transport primates destined for the research industry.

Each year, on the islands of Barbados and St. Kitts & Nevis, hundreds of green/vervet monkeys are torn from their families and forest homes and either exported directly for biomedical research or imprisoned on farms to produce offspring to be exported to laboratories around the world. Once wild and free, these sensitive and intelligent animals end their lives inlaboratories where pain and suffering are routine.

There are an increasing number of airlines that were once carriers of primates, but which now refuse to transport primates for the research industry. Airlines that have made this compassionate decision include leading cargo airlines such as Lufthansa Cargo, Cargolux and DHL Aviation, as well as the major airlines American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways, British Airways, Korean Air and Caribbean Airlines.